Email is flying, cell phones are humming, Blackberries are bursting. All with the news–broken by Associated Press–that Rove asked to testify one mo’ time before Patrick Fitzgerald’s grand jury in the Plame/CIA leak case. On HuffingtonPost.com, blogger Lawrence O’Donnell, who has demonstrated he has some decent sources on this story, made this prediction: “at least three high level Bush Administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high level unindicted coconspirator.”
While more news about Rove’s pending testimony to the grand jury may leak out–Michael Isikoff, where are you?–today’s revelation does give speculators and analysts much to chew on. The key question is whether there is any way to spin this news in a positive direction for Rove. So far, the lawyers and others I have spoken and corresponded with concur: no.
No lawyer would send a client in front of a grand jury unless he or she had to. This is an “extreme and desperate act,” said one attorney I consulted. It’s important to note that the AP story says that Rove requested the chance to talk to the grand jury in July. It does not say when in July this occurred. But it was on July 13 that Matt Cooper testified to the grand jury and said that Rove had told him that former ambassador Joseph Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA. (A Cooper email to his editors confirmed this.) Did Cooper’s testimony contradict Rove’s? (Perhaps Rove had previously told Fitzgerald he had not spoken to Cooper about Valerie Wilson.) If so, Rove would have a pressing need to engage in testimony rehabilitation.
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Don’t forget about DAVID CORN’s BLOG at www.davidcorn.com. Read recent postings on Bush’s latest Big Speech on the war on terrorism, the troubled (?) Harriet Miers nomination, and other in-the-news matters.
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As one lawyer pointed out to me, Rove’s attempted rush to the grand jury room could be explained by three scenarios. Rove wanted to try to spin away the contradiction and explain what the meaning of “is” is. (“In my previous testimony, I said I never mentioned Valerie Wilson’s name to any reporter. That is true. I never said I didn’t talk about ‘Wilson’s wife.'”) Or he’s looking to cut a deal: agree that–due to faulty memory–he accidentally misstated his previous testimony and he’s willing to accept a minor infraction in exchange for more accurate testimony. Prosecutors do occasionally run “blue plate” specials: come in now, tell all, and it won’t be so bad. Has Rove’s number been called in that fashion. Or there’s this possibility: some other Bush official–the Vice President?–has given testimony that poses problems for Rove. My hunch is that the fact that Rove’s request happened in the same month Cooper testified is telling.
In the meantime, the signs are that Rove is indeed a target of the investigation, since Fitzgerald would not declare he is not. Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, who has made false statements previously, yesterday issued a no-comment when asked if Rove was a target. But today he subtly shifted his position and claimed that Rove had not received a letter from Fitzgerald informing him he is a target. One lawyer I chatted with says that the absence of such a letter at this point in the investigation does not mean much. Rove could be a target without having received a letter.
A Democrat I spoke with said that other Democrats in Washington have noticed that in the past few days Rove has not been spotted at White House events that he customarily would attend. Perhaps he has a cold.
But the big point–at the moment–is that Rove would not have asked to appear once more before the grand jury unless he had to. And note that Fitzgerald did not take him up on this offer for nearly three months. That suggests Fitzgerald wanted to collect more material before hearing from Rove yet again.
Unlike O’Donnell, I’m not issuing a prediction. I’m just speculating. Perhaps there’s an innocent explanation that no smart lawyer can yet explain. But for some reason Rove felt compelled to return to the grand jury room. That must be some reason.
